Abigail Voigt presents details of Australia ambassador program to Exchange Club

Sunday

Sep 15, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Sand surfing. Sleeping underneath an oversized aquarium. A first taste of kangaroo. Forging international relationships.

By Jack BarnwellCITY EDITORjbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Sand surfing. Sleeping underneath an oversized aquarium. A first taste of kangaroo. Forging international relationships.Those activities defined nearly three weeks between June 17 and July 6 for Ridgecrest local Abigail Voigt, 13, during her visit to Australia, she shared her experiences on Thursday with the Ridgecrest Exchange Club.From the first day she and a group of 38 other students landed in Sydney, Australia, she said it was a good experience."Sydney is a great place," Voigt said. Her first few hours were spent on a brief tour around the city. During the brief sight-seeing session, she saw the Sydney Opera House."I waited three months to see that and when I saw it, I squealed," Voigt said excitedly. "I never squeal but at that time I was so excited. "We also visited the Aborigines. They have the weirdest dance. One of the kids in our group got to go up on stage and they taught him to dance."A trip to Newcastle — 100 miles northeast of Sydney — saw part of her delegation staying with a host family for two days."I could not have asked for a better host family," Voigt said. "They were very welcoming (of us) into their home." She added that she and fellow students were shown around the Newcastle proper.A visit to Tangalooma, Queensland allowed Voigt and her delegation to experience sand tobogganing — something she said resulted in an interesting outcome."You go head first on a board down this steep hill," Voigt said. "The last time I went down, and on the first bump, I had both my eyes and mouth closed. Then I hit a second bump and opened both eyes and mouth, and ended up eating sand."However, Voigt's experience was more than just seeing the sights and sounds.Voigt's visit to Australia was part of the People to People Ambassador Program, a nonprofit educational program that encourages opportunities for everyday citizens to meet and get to know each other. The organization's vision was inspired by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956."His goal was to basically bring peace and learn about different cultures," Voigt said of Eisenhower's idea.The culture in Australia, she said, had some differences, yet enough similarities to avoid a culture shock."It's different than probably going to Japan," Voigt said. "I think learning about the culture was a little bit easier because we have very similar cultures."Voigt said that the visit to Australia provided other insights as well.The culture shock was almost non-existent, she added, though there were slight differences."People were Australia were more polite than people here, which was different," Voigt said. "The thing I took away the most was that you get to learn to be independent."